Cosmas Damian Asam

Cosmas Damian Asam (29 September 1686 – 10 May 1739) was a German painter and architect during the late Baroque period. He was born in Benediktbeuern and traveled to Rome from 1711 to 1713 to study at the Accademia di San Luca with Carlo Maratta. In 1713, Asam won the Academy's first prize for his drawing of Miracle of Saint Pio.

In Germany, he worked closely with his brother Egid Quirin, who was a sculptor and stucco worker. Together, they built and decorated new churches, like the Asam Church in Munich, and redesigned existing churches in the Baroque style, such as those in Regensburg, including the Benedictine Monastery Church of St. Emmeram. Their teamwork earned them the name the "Asam Brothers". Cosmas Damian Asam passed away in Munich.

Major works

Cosmas Damian Asam and his brother were very busy artists. They mostly worked for monasteries, but sometimes they took other jobs too. One famous piece by Cosmas Damian is an altar in Weltenburg that shows the first realistic picture of the sun blocking out the moon in art history.

Here are some of Cosmas Damian's major works:

Bavaria

• Aldersbach—Monastery Church of Mariae Himmelfahrt (frescoes of the Annunciation, Nativity, Passion, Resurrection, Ascension, the Four Evangelists, and the Church Fathers)
• Amberg—Pilgrimage Church of Maria-Hilf (ceiling frescoes) (1718)
• Benediktbeuern—Church of St. Benedikt (Antonius Funda altar)
• Freising—Dom St. Maria and St. Korbinian (rococo paintings and stucco) (1723–1724)
• Freystadt—Pilgrimage Church of Maria-Hilf (frescoes)
• Friedberg—Pilgrimage Church of the Peace of the Lord (painting in the chancel) (1738)
• Fürstenfeldbruck—Monastery Church of the Ascension of the Blessed Virgin (vault painting)
• Ingolstadt—Asam Church of Maria Viktoria (frescos, possibly architect)
• Metten—Benedictine Monastery Church of St. Michael (high altar painting of Lucifer Destroyed by St. Michael)
• Sloderdjik Church of Christ (Altar paintings of the Ascension)
• Munich—Franciscan Monastery Church of St. Anna im Lehel (ceiling paintings, restored in 1971–1972 after World War II damage, and altars)
• Munich—Catholic Church of St. Johann Nepomuk (Asam Church) (built and decorated entirely by the Asam Brothers) (1733–1746)
• Munich—Dreifaltigkeitskirche (dome fresco of the Adoration of the Trinity)
• Osterhofen Abbey—Papal Basilica of St. Margaretha (frescoes)
• Regensburg—Benedictine Monastery Church of St. Emmeram (frescoed walls and ceilings)
• Schleissheim—Neues Schloss (New Castle) (vault fresco)
• Straubing—Urselinenkirche (interior paintings)
• Weltenburg—Monastery Church of St. George and St. Martin (architect and paintings, with his brother Egid Quirin portrayed as an angel in one of the frescoes, high altar, side altars) (1716–1724)

Baden-Württemberg

• Bruchsal—Schloss church decoration (1730) (now destroyed)
• Ettlingen—Schloss chapel (design and ceiling paintings) in Ettlingen Palace
• Mannheim—Schloss (architectural design and ceiling paintings, now restored after World War II damage)
• Meßkirch—Johann Nepomuk Chapel in Basilica St. Martin (decorations) (1733–1734)
• Weingarten—Benedictine Monastery Church of St. Martin of Tours and St. Oswald (frescoes)

Austria

• Innsbruck—Dom zu St. Jakob (Innsbruck Cathedral) (ceiling frescoes on the life of St. James) (1722–1723)
• Innsbruck—Landtagssaal (State Parliament Hall) in the Alte Landhaus (ceiling and wall frescoes) (1725–1728)

Poland

• Wahlstatt—Legnickie Pole (Wahlstatt, Lower Silesia) (The Finding of the True Cross, ceiling fresco) (1733)